Former Senator to Marry Man

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 1:34pm PDT

On April 24, 2016, Harris Wofford wrote a commentary in the New York Times
announcing his upcoming marriage. As a widower of 90 years of age, he
had found love again and would marry his longtime companion the following Saturday.

Wofford spent most of his career as a public servant and champion of civil
rights. He served in the US army during World War II; worked as a legal
assistant on the United States Commission on Civil Rights; was appointed
by then-President Kennedy as a Special Assistant to the President for
Civil Rights, and then served as the chairman of the Subcabinet Group
on Civil Rights. He was also a special advisor to Martin Luther King.
He followed these accomplishments with his appointment as a special representative
in the Peace Corps. When the current senator of Pennsylvania Senator H.
John Heinz III was killed in a plane crash, the state’s governor
appointed Wofford to fill his Heinz’s position. He represented Pennsylvania
in the U.S. Senate from 1991-1995. After his term in the senate, Wofford
continued to champion human rights and through federal government positions
and college teaching positions.

Wofford married the former Clare Lundgren in 1948, and together they raised
their three children. He and Clare were together until her death from
cancer in 1996.

In 2001, Wofford met his current companion, 40-year-old Matthew Charlton,
and they began a 15-year relationship. According to Wofford, although
they have “far different professional interests,” the two
“just clicked.”

“We took trips around the country and later to Europe together, becoming
great friends… We both felt the immediate spark, and as time went
on, we realized that our bond had grown into love. Other than with Clare,
I had never felt love blossom this way before.”

He said he’s “lucky” to have found love for the second
time, especially in a time when the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized
that matrimony is not based on anyone’s sexual nature, choices or
dreams; but based on love.

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